Rodney Purvis is interviewed by a television crew during Monday's media day event at N.C. State

RALEIGH – The first thing you notice about Rodney Purvis is his smile. It’s infectious and genuine. And these days, as he approaches the start of his first preseason practice as a member of the N.C. State basketball team, he has reason to show it frequently.

Purvis

But it wasn’t always that way.

For 44 long days this summer, a number he recalls off the top of his head without hesitation, the star freshman was ruled ineligible while the NCAA performed what it called an “extended review” of his high school credentials.

It was an ordeal that forced Purvis to miss the Wolfpack’s summer exhibition tour of Spain and the Canary Islands, and led to the creation of the social media hashtag #freerodneypurvis – a movement of which even coach Mark Gottfried became involved.

Rodney Purvis is one of three McDonald''s All-Americas to join the Wolfpack this season

But while the 6-foot-3 McDonald’s All-America did his best to stay positive throughout the process both publicly and privately, he admits there we times when it wasn’t as easy to muster his trademark smile as it is now.

“It was really a hard time for me and my mom,” Purvis said Monday at State’s annual media day event. “We cried a lot together and tried to keep each other up.”

The lowest point came on Aug. 5, the day the Wolfpack left for the trip overseas.

Purvis practiced with the team that Sunday morning. Then, as everyone else packed their bags and got onto the bus to head for the airport and the adventure of their lives, the star recruit was left at the curb helplessly waving goodbye.

“It was sad,” Gottfried said, recalling the awkward scene. “That had to be hard for him. If you didn’t have that Spain trip in there, maybe you don’t have the magnitude of ‘I’m not with my team.’ That was a very tough thing.”

The situation became even more complicated once fall classes started and Purvis wasn’t allowed to attend. Though he was finally granted a waiver to start school a week late, the uncertainty never went away.

Purvis would call or text Gottfried almost daily, asking if he’d heard any new news about the status of his case and what he did wrong to deserve all this.

Gottfried

“He didn’t do anything wrong,” the coach said.

What Purvis did was become a member of the first – and as it’s played out, last – graduating class of Upper Room Christian Academy in Raleigh.

Because it was a new school, the NCAA had to first determine whether the core courses Purvis took were legitimate before granting him permission to play in college. It was a long, tedious process that had everyone involved hoping for the best, but fearing the worst.

“I was really concerned, “Gottfried said. “I always felt like the right thing was that he’d be eligible to play. He took all the right classes. He did everything he was supposed to do. He stayed at one high school, so I was excited when it panned out that way.”

If Gottfried was happy when the NCAA finally got around to clearing Purvis on Sept. 17, one can only imagine what the young basketball star must have felt.

“Getting cleared was the best news I’ve probably heard in my life,” he said. “I just feel like I got lucky, I guess.”

Now that he’s officially been “freed,” the young star can begin the process of making up for the time he lost with his teammates in Spain and start putting the lessons he learned this summer to practical use.

That’s the important revelations, not just that his Twitter feed is being followed by the likes of Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas.

“I learned a lot over those 44 days,” Purvis said. “I learned a lot about myself, just strengthening myself mentally. That was the hardest part.”

The fun part comes next.

Purvis is the most heralded member of the Wolfpack’s incoming freshman class, which includes fellow McDonald’s All-Americas T.J. Warren and Tyler Lewis.

His addition to the active roster gives State an explosive wing scorer as well as some badly needed backcourt depth – both of which should give everyone associated with the team plenty to smile about this season.

He must be an outstanding young man, go for him. This class at NC State just might be the class that gets this team going the way K did at Duke. If that is the case it will only make the ACC better. I am a Duke fan but more import I am a fan of all the young players that step on the court of field. They are our future, with them our future is much brighter.